In the eyes of the police and many members of the public, UK BikeLife is just the latest menace to plague London’s streets. Its members are associated with antisocial behaviour, violence, petty crime and police chases. They are also blamed for an increase in motorcycle theft in the capital.

The photographer Dan Giannopoulos, who spent 18 months documenting the riders, believes the reality is far less sinister.

“They are predominantly young, disaffected males from working-class backgrounds who use riding as an escape from the harsh realities of daily life,” he says. “These images attempt to subvert the current news narrative that these are bad people doing villainous things”.